Heads up for anyone who finds themselves scrolling through Netflix right now looking for something new to watch — and who, specifically, might be in the mood for a top-tier crime drama. There’s an AMC thriller with a “Game of Thrones” connection that not only fits that bill; it’s also one of the biggest shows, period, on Netflix right now. The show: AMC’s “Dark Winds,” which has entered the Netflix Top 10 TV shows chart three years after the first episode aired on TV (it’s #8 on the streaming giant in the U.S. at the moment).
“Game of Thrones” creator George R. R. Martin actually helped bring to life this small-screen drama that’s set in the early 1970s on the Navajo Nation (Martin is officially credited as an executive producer). The show follows two tribal police officers — Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee — who investigate crimes that seem unrelated at first but that gradually pull the duo into much deeper territory. The show also doesn’t merely use the Southwest as a backdrop; the place, the land, the culture, all of it has combined to produce the sort of quality crime drama that doesn’t come around all that often. And you don’t even have to take my word for it.
Dark Winds: A Western noir with cultural weight
Three seasons in, the show is still sitting on a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Zahn McClarnon plays Leaphorn, a man reeling from personal loss and who also has anger that he struggles to keep in check. His deputy Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon) has his own history tied to the reservation. The way the two men work together — sometimes at odds, sometimes in sync — is just one reason “Dark Winds” is such a compelling watch. The cast and crew are also largely Native American, and the show takes care with the details, including the use of the Diné (Navajo) language. Importantly, there’s also a writers’ room staffed by Native Americans, in addition to the show having a director and main actors who are all of various Native American heritages.
Needless to say, for those reasons, “Dark Winds” offers an authentic and nuanced portrayal of Diné life that’s rarely seen in mainstream media.
Time magazine, meanwhile, has described the series as “gripping, gorgeously shot,” and upheld by strong performances. “A very entertaining series,” raves one 4.5/5 Rotten Tomatoes audience review. “The setting alone is worth the watch. It doesn’t try to be earth-shattering, which I appreciated. It gives us some good characters and thrills. A good mix of drama and thriller.”
